Deeper Than Flesh (Touken Fanfic)
by LeopardFlame1009
Summary: Well, this whole fanfic will take place in the months after Kaneki had left the 20th ward, leaving Touka alone with her feelings. Until now. (Touken fanfic, might become M later) ((Note: I do not own the characters nor Tokyo ghoul- if I did it would be one hell of a bad show.))
1. Nothing Like Being Alone

Touka Kirishima. That was her name and that was final. No nicknames. Well, that's if you don't count 'rabbit'- the name the investigators had given her. She was classified as dangerous but deep in herself, she knew she was nowhere near as powerful as those ghouls who live along the lines of blood and death.  
The dark haired girl sat on her small bed and leaned back against the pale wall that her mattress was parallel to. Closing her eyes and slipping on her bright white headphones with a little rabbit roughly scribbled on one of the sides, she looked over at her phone to turn on some music. Looks like it was late October, 22:34. Scrolling through a list of her multiple genres, she finally settled on 'Your Gonna Go Far Kid' by The Offspring. Focusing on her breathing as the rock music streamed into her ears, she played with her long bangs. Minutes went by along with songs. 'Castle of Glass' - Linkin Park. 'I Will Not Bow' - Breaking Benjamin. 'Numb' - Linkin Park. 'Angel with a Shotgun' - The Cab. 'Face Down' - The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. 'Animal I Have Become' - Skillet. Soon enough, a song she dreaded to hear came on. 'Take it Out on Me' - Thousand Foot Krutch. Now, Touka loved this song but the memories that came with it were borderline torturous to remember. Kaneki- her ex closest friend- had loved this song before he left. Ken left because he felt he had a duty to protect anyone else from a cruel death. She though it was an impossible ambition of heroism but when Ken's ghoul side took over... He was a totally different person. For the better and the worse.  
Suddenly, Touka's phone went off. Picking it up and turning down her music, she glanced at the screen to see the random numbers along with a message.  
(1)-414-689-3746: I'm downstairs. Came for a visit.  
Touka: I'm sorry. I think you have the wrong number.  
(1)-414-689-3746: No, Touka-chan. I have the right number.  
The last message brought herself to shake her head. Hide probably just got her number from Nishiki. Tossing away her phone again, she moved until she was laying down on her blue comforter. Closing her eyes, she reached back to her phone which she had mindlessly tossed to turn up her music again. She wanted to shut out the world right now.  
Minutes went by and there was a sudden click of her door opening. Shoving her face into her pillow, she shooed whoever was at the door away with a flick of her hand which had eventually returned to the warmth under her pillow. "Go away." Touka said in a muffled voice as someone sat down on her bed causing the mattress to shift. Finally, the dark haired girl was annoyed by whoever had been bugging her. Sitting up, she twisted her body and shoved the boy away. The white haired boy with silver eyes. The same boy she had missed. Kaneki.  
After Ken had stumbled off the bed, he gave Touka a very offended look which was quickly acknowledged with a sorry. She wanted to go up to him and hug him but another part of her wanted to deck him strait in the face but she she decided on just staying where she was, clutching the blue comforter.  
Ken had decided to sit on the rug on the wooden floor to avoid any other pushes or shoves and looked up at the girl he had left about a year ago. Finally choosing to be the first to speak he started with a fairly simple and answerable question. "Why didn't you come downstairs when I messaged you? I wanted some coffee too." He gave a little tilt of his head making him look young and childish. He quickly scanned Touka and noticed she had gotten thinner, paler and grew out her hair. She honestly didn't look as healthy as a year ago.  
Touka rolled her eyes as he tilted his head. "I thought it was Hide and I wasn't in the mood to talk." She responded simply while her eyes looked over Kaneki once more. She couldn't help but notice that he had gained a bit of muscle. Not the big, in your face, kind of muscle but lean and toned.  
Ken had managed to process this information quickly and compare it to what Nishiki had said about her avoiding doing anything. "Well, it looks as if you haven't been in the mood to do anything recently." He looked into her eyes and noticed how they were slightly glazed over, but she quickly broke eye contact by looking down at her feet. Standing up from the ground, Ken walked forward a bit and grabbed Touka's arm. Pulling her to her feet, he felt how light she had gotten but was quickly distracted as she fell to her knees in protest. "You have to eat." He said forcefully as he reached down to take ahold of her other arm and dragged the dark haired girl to her feet. Steadying her, Ken returned to just holding one arm. Dragging her out of her room, he heard a plastic thump and click behind him and assumed the headphones and phone must've fallen. Looking back at Touka, he noticed how bad her stepping was and how poorly she held herself. She was starving herself.  
Touka was letting herself be dragged and made a desperate attempt to stay on her feet as they thumped down the stairs rather loudly. Soon enough they were in one of the many back rooms with multiple storage compartments. Ken had reached up into a refrigerated one and unlocked it rather quickly and pulled out a small, neatly wrapped package. Closing the door of the storage and locking it, he turned back to her and handed her the package. "Eat." He insisted and Touka felt her hunger grow stronger than she thought possible. Her stomach seemed to consume itself as it gave a low growl. Looking down at the package which contained flesh, she finally gave in to the sharp pains and opened it. Revealing the soft flesh that could only be compared to a human food called beef jerky, she took one of the few pieces and started to nibble at it which earned her a disapproving look from the white haired boy. As her hunger started to take over, her eating become more desperate until it was all gone and her stomach was slightly satisfied. "Don't help me next time. I can care for myself." She commented.  
Ken scowled at Touka as she said this and shot back "You obviously can't. You were starving." He paused for a bit and his look softened a bit. "Well, as a customer, I want some black coffee and I would like to see some of your latte art."  
Touka was rather sour from that comment and her eyes narrowed. "Fine. Let me go get changed." She answered as she opened the door for Ken to exit to the the cafe. Feeling a new sort of energy, she went up the stairs in a couple bounds and changed into her uniform in a record timing. Combing through her hair with her fingers as she came down the wooden stairs, she finally entered the cafe. Taking her place behind the counter, she excused the new girl who was crazed with the stories about Kaneki and was like one of those crazy people who followed their idols everywhere. Eventually, she was getting annoyed and told the girl she was done for the day and to go home. She was not too fond of the idea but she reluctantly listened and left. Touka let out a loud sigh of relief and turned around, only to back up a bit as Ken was leaning over the counter and she almost knocked her head into his. "Kaneki! Keep your damn head on the other side of the counter!" She scolded as she already knew his order. Black coffee. Latte. Managing to turn her back on the half ghoul, she gathered some ground up coffee beans in one of their many filters. Pouring some steaming hot water through the filter to flavor the water with the bitter beans, she eventually had finished this brew. Pouring some of freshly made coffee into a nice little white cup, she handed it to Ken and reminded him it was hot. Now it was time for the long process of the latte art. Latte base. Check. Steamed milk. Check. Now to put it together. Carefully pouring the milk into the base while she tilted the cup, she stopped a second before the white would show to exaggerate the design. Making tight zigzags, she brought a thin line of the steamed milk through the edge of the lines. Doing this three times, she started the body of the creature she was making. Done. Now the long neck and the heart like head. Done. The art was finished. Planning to take the latte over to Kaneki carefully, she jumped once again as he was looking over her shoulder. He was on the wrong side of the counter again.  
"Very nice Phoenix, Touka-chan." Ken commented as he looked at the beautifully crafted bird with a grin. As good as it looked, he knew he couldn't enjoy it due to the milk base. "Ken! Other side of the counter!" Touka half yelled at him causing him to walk casually back to his seat to examine the bird again as it was placed next to his now cooled coffee. Taking a sip of the dark roast, he couldn't help but praise Touka for the best taste of coffee he'd had in a while.  
The look on Touka's face gave no hint of her hearing the complement but a look of uncertainty. A look that said she wanted to ask questions but was incapable of selecting a few.  
They would probably be up until one o'clock in the morning.  
Ken had finished half of his coffee and leaned back in his chair as he spoke in rather calm voice "I see you want some answers. Ask away."  
Touka looked at Kaneki as he spoke and her jaw almost went slack as he basically read her mind. Was she that predictable? Or readable? Hardening her look, she crossed her arms and leaned against the counter behind her.  
"How did you get that phone? Let alone my number."  
"Took it off an investigator. And how could I forget the number of my favorite barista?"  
Touka let out a small cough as she went to sip on some of the extra coffee she had made and the complement surprised her. Hm. Examining Ken's face he seemed to be in a peaceful state, for the time at least.  
"Where's Shuu and all those others that pledged to follow you?"  
"Let them have a couple days to do whatever. I needed a break."  
Ken looked down at his now empty mug of coffee with a frown. Looking up as he noticed movement from the corner of his eyes, Touka had come forward to pour what was left in her cup into his. Looking up at her with a questioning look, she answered simply "You don't get good coffee often, right? I do." He gave a small nod to this.  
"Did you have to deal with many doves?"  
To answer this, Ken stood up and lifted his shirt to reveal a small jagged scar that ran perpendicular to his well formed abs. "Yes. I think they developed a new weapon against ghouls that slowed down healing process and inflicts deep tissue damage." He paused to lower his shirt but caught Touka's eyes on his stomach. Silver eyes glinting he spoke rather cockily for a guy who had been quite innocent only a year back. "Like what you see?"  
With that comment, Touka blinked and felt her cheeks burn up a bit. Tearing her eyes from Ken's abs to his face, she narrowed her eyes and gave herself a small frown. She didn't speak about it.  
"Will you ever come back t-"  
"No."  
"Oh."  
"It's late and frankly, I want to sleep. You can ask me more questions tomorrow."  
Touka let out a silent breath and walked over to the open sign and flipped it to closed. Opening the door for Ken, she received a blank look as he remained seated. Shrugging she spoke firmly "Okay. Lock up behind you." With that, she started to head upstairs and heard the clinking of mugs being out away and the door locking. At the top of the stairs she looked behind her to see Ken already halfway up. "Don't you have somewhere to stay?"  
Kaneki shook his head and laughed. "I was hoping my old room was still open." Continuing up the stairs, he stood beside Touka. He had grown a bit as well and now stood a good three inches over the dark haired ghoul.  
The smaller ghoul responded rather dully "No. It was small enough to become a storage, so we are slowly transferring 'food' up here, so the downstairs storage can hold things for the shop."  
Kaneki shrugged "Guess I'm staying in your room." Shooting Touka a grin after the comment, he received a deadly look. She might just kill him right here, right now.  
Touka walked into her room with Ken right behind her and made strait for for her dresser. Picking out a pair of tights and a loose v-neck t-shirt, the dark haired girl headed over to the bathroom to change. Changing out of her clothes and tossing them outside, she started to put on her tights when her shirt fell half into the toilet. Cursing at her luck, she looked down at her bra and decided she would just have to yell at Ken to look away. Stepping into the hall, she walked slowly toward her room when she caught a glimpse of Ken changing and instantly turned around. Leaning against the wall for around four minutes, she finally walked back toward her room where Kaneki had changed into long pants and a black t-shirt. "Turn around or I'll see that you go blind." Touka growled as she entered the room. Satisfied to see the back of Ken's head and it's pure white hair, she turned back to her dresser to get another shirt. Reaching into the drawer, she jumped away as she felt a cool finger draw its self along her spine. "Ken! I told you to turn the hell around!" She yelled as she used the shirt to cover her torso.  
Ken gave an innocent look back at Touka. "You have a scar on your back. When'd you get that?" The female ghoul's answer to his question was a hard roundhouse kick to the face sending him backwards to stare at the wall as she fled towards the bathroom to put on her last article of clothing.  
Soon enough, Touka returned to the white haired ghoul who had recovered from the hit and set up a couple sheets on the ground he could sleep on. Good, she didn't have to do that work for him. Flicking off the light whether or not Kaneki was ready, she slipped under her covers and muttered a quick "Night." Closing her eyes, she listened as her current roommate's breathing slowed into a steady rhythm. Soon enough, she drifted off as well.


	2. Just Cliché

Touka woke to a shadow looming over her blocking out the rising morning sun. Letting out a small groan, she held her tongue to prevent her from saying something she would regret later and instead sat up and pushed Ken away. Rubbing her bleary eyes, she allowed them to focus on Ken who had gotten dressed and set for the day. She was off work for the day, so she might as well hang around with the white haired boy. There was nothing better to do.  
Kaneki had grinned widely as Touka had finally woken. Looking at her as innocently as he had the night before, he stood up and tossed a couple articles of clothing her way. The usual tomboyish outfit she seemed to wear everyday the past year and from what he could tell it looked pretty comfortable. He half wondered her story behind them but forgot about asking as Touka spoke her mind which also happened to be a question. "Can you help me get back into training?"  
Touka looked at Ken hopefully as he seemed to process the information. "Okay. But you have to provide the place." The dark haired girl nodded enthusiastically and she gave one of her first true smiles in a long while. "There's an underground subway that is abandoned a few block away. I'll grab some coffee to go." With that, she grabbed her clothes and ran into her bathroom to change. Throwing on the clothes after a quick wash, she jogged back into her room and grabbed her mask which she might need for later if worst came to worst. Reminding Ken that he too might need his mask, she received a nod as he tucked it into his hoodie. Talking hold of the silver eyed boy's hand, it was her turn to drag him about. Fixing them a quick cup of black coffee in a to go cup, she waved off Nishiki who gave them a look that said he was going to ask a question about where they were heading.  
Ken was fine with being dragged by Touka because he was used to taking his group around and this was a first for him - being dragged around by a friend that is. Soon enough, he kept pace - a steady walk - with the dark haired girl and was finally able to taste the dark coffee that had been made for him. Taking a sip of the warm brew, he enjoyed the taste of the coffee over his taste buds and soon enough felt his stomach go warm and fuzzy with the warm beverage. The warm liquid felt rather good against his soft lips and the cold that surrounded the two of them. Something he actually enjoyed, he could drink.  
As they walked down the quite street, Touka noticed the lack of conversation between them and decided to keep it that way. Taking a sip of her coffee, she let the cup linger at her mouth for a bit to enjoy the pleasing aroma it gave off. Bringing the cup down, she glanced at Ken from the corner of her eyes and notice he was turned toward her, probably expecting a conversation. He was the first to speak though.  
"Why do you want me to train you?"  
"I wanted some practice. That's all."  
Kaneki shrugged his shoulders uncertain if that was the actual reason but let it slide anyways. Glancing at the girl again, he now examined her dark bluish hair. "Your hair looks nice long." He commented casually causing Touka to flick her hair aside with her hand. "Just didn't want to cut it for a while." A moment of silence washed over the two as Ken just walked along with Touka. "You should keep it like that." He added with a small grin.  
Touka felt her cheeks start to burn but looked away toward a small triangular building. "Over there." She said changing course to the building. Reaching into one of her pockets, she pulled out a bobby pin and a small knife. When the reached the door of the old building, she inserted the two items into the odd lock and went to work on it for about five or six minutes. Finally there was a click that allowed the heavy metal door to open. "There. We're in." With that, they entered the dark building and found a couple old switches that turned on some dim light that gave them just enough visibility as they needed. Boot heels clicking every so often on the cement stairs, they reached an opening that had a dip in the far end where subway trains would have gone. They had quite enough room to train here.  
Ken followed Touka down the stairs to the open room of the subway and glanced around. Thoughts becoming interrupted from the voice of the female ghoul in front of him. "Training starts now." Right then, she summoned her kagune that formed into almost a burning wing that glowed red and black. Turning to Ken, a small smirk formed on her features as she turned to the white haired boy, her iris red and shrunken and her sclera black. Dark veins forming around the black of her eyes, Kaneki couldn't help but grin a bit. He felt like a piece of prey. But he was the predator. Summoning his own kagune that looked like four long shining red tentacles, his left eye formed as Touka's eyes. Placing himself in a defensive position, he braced himself for a quick attack.  
Touka knew her kagune was weak to the koukaku Ken possessed and she also knew that the koukaku was more fragile that her ukaku. Lunging forward and acting as though she was going to take out his feet, she flipped her attack to an uppercut towards his face. Her direct attacked failed as Ken's kagune blocked the punch and wrapped itself around her wrist. In a flurry of quick flips and kicks revolved around her trapped wrist, she found an opening and sent her fist direct at Kaneki's face. Her attack was again stopped as his hand swiftly caught the fist in his hand. Suddenly the half ghoul was on the attack and shoved the dark haired girl against a wall and stood over her and dangerously close. Touka's breath hitched in her throat as her mind cleared of any tactics. Forcing her mind to think, she forced her arms up, grazing and cutting itself against the rough concrete. With her body closer to his, she twisted toward his hand that held her fist and managed to free herself from his grasp an end up behind Ken. Swinging her foot around, she made contact with the small of the white haired boy's back sending him stumbling forward.  
Kaneki hid a small grin as he was kicked into a wall. Touka seemed to have improved in the time he was gone, and she still held a fire that shone as brightly as her kagune. Turning to face the fiery ghoul, he heard her snap sharply at him in a pissed off voice.  
"I know you aren't trying. Show me if you really are as good as they say!"  
"I can't. I don't want to risk hurting you."  
This comment truly set off Touka causing her to harden her kagune into multiple crystal like forms. "Try me." She growled as she sent shards flying his way, decorating the wall he fled away from in the reflective gem like formation. Quickly predicting his movements, she shot a quick stream of bullet sized crystals in front of his path and successfully landed a hit into his shoulder that left him slightly stunned. Scrapping off the shallow shards, his skin healed over in mere seconds which surprised Touka. She was unaware of his regenerative power. As her mind trailed off from attention for a second, Kaneki used this moment to attack and struck her with one of his kagunes sending her tumbling into the stairs. Getting to her feet in a split second, she gave a sarcastic snap "I told yo-" Suddenly the girl went silent and her kagune flickered out. Eyes returning back to their human look, but wide and shocked, she crumpled to her knees and fell forward. Just before her world went dark, she felt a stinging in her back that followed through her chest.  
Kaneki watched the scene play out in a silent shock that prevented him from reacting. Looking up the stairs, he noticed the bright white hair of an investigator with a gun that had used it's last bullet for the day. "Did I get her?" The young male dove chirped at the taller more muscular figure next to him. The same man that Ken had encountered the night Hinami ran off. Amon. Quickly hiding his face by pulling up his hood and throwing on his mask with the toothy large grin on the material, he prepped himself for a battle.  
Lunging forward at the Ghoul, Amon drew out his quinque - a large blunt weapon that was heavy but inflicted major damage. Bringing it down at the white haired boy, he attack was blocked, then reflected by his kagune. As the two fought with force and instinct that helped them survive, the small white haired dove skipped down the steps toward the body of the ghoul he had shot down. Crouching, he drew out a small knife that was made of a melted down kagune, he poked the girl to see if she was dead. "Hmm. Looks dead but just in case..." The boy chirped just as he brought the knife above his head to strike down on the ghoul, a stray glowing red kagune struck him hard and into the wall. As the knife flew from the investigators hand, he blinked and frowned. "Mom wouldn't be happy if I missed a ghoul. I have to be a good boy. For her." With that, he quickly found his knife and charged at the ghoul Amon was already dealing with. He was in the way. As a string of attacks tried to strike the white haired boy with red stitches all over his fingers, he managed to dodge most all of them.  
Being double teamed like this sent Ken into a state of pure instinct. He had to get out. He couldn't leave Touka. He had to be quick. Quicker than his opponent. Backing up slightly with every attack making himself go a little closer to the female ghoul with each step, he was finally next to her. Making a quick, tactical attack, Kaneki sent two of his red kagunes to each of the doves- one at their side and another at their head. On the most part, completely unavoidable. When both of his attacks were successful, he twisted and and grabbed Touka in a bridal hold and took off in a run up the stairs leaving the two humans to recover.  
Juuzou frowned as the ghouls were gone. "Amon. I don't this we got them." As a response Amon grumbled and got to his feet. "We're going after them. Come on."  
As soon as Ken got out of the subway, he returned himself to a more human form. Though that was hard when he had a couple bloodstains on his dark clothes and a mask on. As he ran though back ally ways, he looked down at Touka every so often to ensure she was breathing. He honestly couldn't tell if she was alive at the time or not. She was limp in his arms and gave no sign of life. Stopping for a moment to catch his breath and look around, he headed towards an abandoned three story parking garage. Sprinting in that direction, he feet gave out soft thuds every few steps. As soon as he reached the garage, he slowed a bit and walked up a flight of stairs to the second floor. Finding an area that was hidden enough in the shadows, he placed Touka down softly feeling slightly panicked by her condition. Taking hold of her wrist, he let out a soft sigh of relief as he felt a pulse. Now looking for the wound, he found where the kagune bullet had entered and exited which allowed it to be a clean wound, but he knew it still wouldn't heal too easily. She need flesh. Or blood.  
Bringing out a small knife he commonly used for harvesting flesh, he brought the blade across his finger, over her mouth which had been slightly parted by his other finger, causing a couple drops of blood to spill into her mouth before the wound healed. "Dammit." He cursed at his extraordinary healing and repeated the process several times. After she had received enough blood to start healing, her body started to slowly try and seal the odd bullet wound.  
Touka was still critically injured and they were currently a block away from the coffee shop. The time was around 14:00 meaning most people would be at work right now... Including the investigators.  
Seeing that Touka's condition was stable enough for him to be able to carry her again, Ken picked her up in the same manner as before. Resting her head on his chest, he looked up through silver eyes and white hair to see the doves had managed to chase him. Unacceptable. Without a second thought, he jumped off the second story of the abandoned garage. Using his kagune to soften his landing, he took off in a sprint that would wear on him soon. Running through a dark ally, he could see the coffee shop at the next turn. Looks like they would be coming in the back. Upon reaching the door, he yanked it open and slammed it behind him, locking all the nobs. Setting his sight on Touka's room, he carried her carefully up the stairs and gently placed her on the bed. Looking over her, he noticed that the wound had healed over but she was still out cold. Sitting on the bed next to the dark haired girl, he reached up to her face and tucked a couple stray strands of hair behind her ear. "This is my fault... I should've known we could've been followed." Ken half whispered as his finger traced her jawline. Withdrawing the hand, he broke his gaze from her limp body as he heard some footsteps coming upstairs. By the shifting of weight and how fast the feet were, it was Nishiki. As predicted, Nishiki burst in the door.  
"Why the hell did you sla- Oh." A moment of silence occurred between the two. "What happened?" The orange haired ghoul asked eyeing over the two.  
"Shot. Investigators followed us." The white haired boy finally removed his mask.  
"Ok... What were you doing? Looking for a place for some privacy?" Nishiki snickered.  
"Training." Ken countered with a strait face returning his eyes back to Touka.  
"Sure you were." The ghoul laughed turning around to leave the two alone again.  
From the events of the day, Kaneki was slight tired so he decided to leave Touka alone to her room and grab himself a coffee. Trotting down the stairs, he strolled into the front room and asked for two coffees and was initially told to make it himself. Getting a cup of coffee beans, he ground it up until it was fine powder. Bringing out the filter, he heated up two cups of water and poured it through the ground beans. Soon enough he had two cups of coffee. Picking up the coffee cups, he walked toward the stairs but managed to spill the cups. Cursing, he cleaned up his mess and made another two cups which he successfully brought upstairs. One for Touka, one for himself. Entering her room he tilted his head a bit as he saw that the dark haired girl had sat up. "Here. Made you some coffee." Ken said casually handing her a cup which she took with a small thanks.  
Touka held the cup in both of her hands and let it relax in her crossed legs as she looked down into the dark brew. "What happened?" She asked eventually as she turned to Ken, a pained look in her eyes.  
"Investigators shot you..."  
"Oh..."  
Touka had eventually taken a sip of her coffee and gave a weak laugh. "You still can't make coffee." She joked as she took another sip, which caused Kaneki to give her a small grin.  
They didn't talk until they both had finished their cup of coffee, and Ken was the first to talk. "I can make coffee. Just yours might be better is all." This caused Touka to snicker as she got up and hooked up her phone to a speaker. Instantly, the song she had left off on yesterday came on, causing Ken to bob his head a bit. He learned to love this song and memorized the lyrics quite easily. Lips synced with the music, he started to laugh a bit more. Only then did he realize how much he had missed times with Touka.  
"I don't know  
I don't know  
I don't know anymore  
Thought I had  
Thought I had it under control  
Hear my voice, here it goes  
Hear it louder than most  
Here it goes, here it goes  
(1 2 3 4)  
It's not worth it  
It's not workin'  
You wanted it to be picture perfect  
It's not over,  
You don't have to throw it away.  
So scream if you wanna, shout if you need  
Just let it go (take it out on me)  
Fight if you need to, smash if it helps you  
Get control (take it out on me)  
So scream if you wanna, shout if you need  
Just let it go (take it out on me)  
Fight if you need to, smash if it helps you  
Get control  
You try to move, try to move  
But you don't wanna lose  
So afraid, so afraid  
You don't want it to fade  
Hear my voice, here it goes  
Hear it louder than most  
Let it go, let it (1 2 3 4)  
It's not worth it  
It's not workin'  
You wanted it to be picture perfect  
It's not over,  
You don't have to throw it away.  
So scream if you wanna, shout if you need  
Just let it go (take it out on me)  
Fight if you need to, smash if it helps you  
Get control (take it out on me)  
So scream if you wanna, shout if you need  
Just let it go (take it out on me)  
Fight if you need to, smash if it helps you  
Get control  
1 2 3 4  
It's not worth it  
It's not workin'  
You wanted it to be picture perfect  
It's not over,  
You don't have to throw it away.  
So scream if you wanna, shout if you need  
Just let it go (take it out on me)  
Fight if you need to, smash if it helps you  
Get control (take it out on me)  
So scream if you wanna, shout if you need  
Just let it go (take it out on me)  
Fight if you need to, smash if it helps you  
Get control"

They let the hours of the night pass as they listened to multiple songs and genres with the occasional embarrassing song deciding to come on such as Anaconda and It's Getting Hot in Here. After the time hit 21:00, Touka was exhausted. Falling asleep against the edge of her bed, all she remembered was Ken looking at her with his usual naive look as some song called Sing came on.


	3. Waking up

Touka woke to find herself on the bed with a comforting warmth behind her that formed to each curve of her body. Looking down, she found a pale hand with dark nails resting right above her hip. Then it hit her. Pushing off the body and dropping to the floor, she rolled to her feet and faced Kaneki with blazing eyes and a stance that was physically ready to fight.  
"What the hell!?" She screeched as the white haired boy looked up at her with relaxed silver eyes.  
His response was way to calm for her liking. "You didn't look comfy on the floor, so I put you on the bed."  
"You know what I mean!" She growled fiercely.  
Kaneki's eyebrows furrowed for a second as he though of what she meant. Oh. The sleeping next to her part. "You looked cold and you were on all the blankets. I didn't want to wake you."  
Touka's glare remained hard as she spoke with a tone as sharp of a knife "Don't. Get. Used. To. It." With that, she spun on her heels out out if the room and to the bathroom to fix her appearance. Changing into the extra pair of work wear that was kept in the bathroom, she brought a comb through her growing hair and decided that was enough. Feet tapping light against each worn wooden stair, she was heading toward the counter in the front room. Taking her position next to Nishiki, the orange haired ghoul instantly brought up a rather awkward conversation.  
"So. Are you sleeping with Kaneki or something?"  
This question caused Touka's cheeks to burn up.  
"I'm taking that as a yes."  
"No! I'm not..."  
"You seem disappointed about that."  
"Lay off it! I'm not! You think I'd ever sleep with a guy who left us a year back!?"  
"Yeah."  
"Shut your fu-."  
Just as Touka was about to tell the ghoul some explicit words, Ken walked into the room wearing his old uniform with the same old eyepatch. Nishiki then grinned as he spoke.  
"Touka wants to sleep with you."  
Ken chuckled as he turned to Touka "Didn't we sleep in the same bed last night?"  
Nishiki started to crack up as he was barely able to get an audible sentence out "Hah! Called it!"  
Touka was becoming quite red in the face now. "Ken." She warned. "We did not sleep together."  
"We were in the same bed though?"  
"Uh- That's not what Nishiki meant."  
Ken had to process this information and as soon as he understood, he let out a small laugh. "Oh, okay." Soon enough, the group broke off their conversation to get to work in getting orders complete.  
After a bit of greeting the many customers in the shop, Touka noticed Kaneki staring, no, more like glaring, at one woman who almost looked like she could be his mother. Turning to Ken, she grabbed his shoulder to get his attention from the customer. From behind her she heard a "Just kiss already." but thoroughly ignored it. Leaning in toward Ken's ear and lowering her voice she spoke in a harsh tone "You can't go around looking like you want to kill some if these people." The silver eyed boy just glanced at her as his glare returned to the woman. Touka then grabbed Ken's wrist and dragged him into the back room which earned them a "Use protection." From Nishiki. Bursting back through the door, she gave the ghoul a slight piece of her mind which included threatening to hang him from his legs and feed him to some stray dogs and poisoning his food. Walking back the Ken, she grabbed ahold of his shoulder again. "Who was that. You obviously want then dead."  
Ken looked back at Touka who had now grabbed his shoulder and demanded to be listened to. Hearing her a bit he knew what she was asking. "My aunt... She killed my mother."  
Touka felt herself stiffen a bit. She couldn't count the number of times he mentioned this wretched lady and how she indirectly killed his mother.  
"What exactly do you plan to do?"  
"Kill her right here. Right now." Ken said as he went to move Touka out of the way only to get shoved backwards. "You can't kill her here." She spat as she grabbed the collar of his shirt firmly. "Hm. Guess your right. I'll just keep an eye on her. But as soon as she leaves this building, she'll just be another prey to ghouls." Kaneki's eyes flashed with the hunger of revenge causing his eye that was currently covered with an eyepatch to tense and darken leaving a couple noticeable dark veins trailing around. Seeing this, Touka instantly reacted and demanded he stay away from the front until he cooled off again.  
Leaving Ken to himself, Touka returned back to the front counter to finish the eight hours of work remaining. About four hours into it all, Kaneki joined them which resulted in the constant teasing of Nishiki and his opinions.

It was a slow day and their lack of customers caused the to decide on closing the shop early. As Touka shut the door behind the last customer and flipped the sign from open to closed, she turned to face Kaneki.  
"What did you do?"  
"About?"  
"Your aunt."  
"Oh. Her. I just followed her back to her place, so now I know where she lives."  
"That's kinda creepy."  
"I know."

With their conversation seemingly over and it being around 18:00, Touka decided she was just going to sleep but her plans were changed almost immediately as Ken decided that she was going to help him murder, no, get revenge on his aunt. Touka had to be dragged out the door on the most part but eventually just decided to go along and not cause too much trouble. Pulling up her dark hood just as Ken had, she walked with her head down and remained quiet. The only sound besides the usual distant car noises was her rubber boots making the occasional sound as it was dragged along the concrete. After they had walked a couple blocks, the two reached a small complex of apartment buildings that looked fairly luxurious for the area. Hearing a small snicker from Kaneki beside her, she heard him whisper "It's all bull shit that she needed my mother's money. She was just using her." The dark haired girl noticed from the corner of her eye that the white haired boy looked at her with piercing silver eyes. "She's in the farthest building, floor seven, room seventy-two." He spoke louder this time as he started to lead her to the farthest building. His strides became quick and impatient as his eye darkened, his sclera turning black and iris shrinking into a crimson red. Touka knew this white haired half ghoul had his mind set on something and he wouldn't let this one go.  
Ken soon enough approached the farthest building and decided it was best to take the stairs. At the base of the stairs, he looked up the well taken care of stairwell before deciding to continue on his own personal mission. Flying up the stairs two steps at a time, he noticed Touka pacing herself next to him causing him to look at her for a moment. He needed to be strong for this fight even though it would be against a mere human, and with that thought he felt his mouth start to water. Only then did he realize that his mind was devising a plan to eat Touka. No. No no no no! Stopping at floor five, he stood still and gripped his head out of pure anger at his thoughts.  
Touka had went on to the next flight of stairs but notice Kaneki wasn't beside her. Turning around and noticing him on a floor below her, she slowed to a jog and went down the stairs until she was next to the suddenly irritated half ghoul. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Ken seemed to snap. "Get away from me!" He growled causing Touka's eyebrows to furrow. "Ken." She warned with a growl to her own voice. She was not about to just drop out and head off. "I told you to get away!" He started to raise his voice. "I don't think I have full." His eyes twitched a bit causing him to grind his teeth down. "Control of my myself. I. Just. Caught myself from. Turning on you." He cringed again as as he spoke. This comment seemed to catch Touka off guard but her face still remained firm as she spoke "You have control whether you believe it or not. Come on." With that, she grabbed his arm and started to drag him along behind her until he seemed to get out of that weird state of mind and return back to his original objective.  
Touka was uncertain of Ken's mental health at the moment but knew he was strong enough to pull out of it an ultimately decided to continue.  
Soon enough they were at floor seven and they entered the hall. Odds on the left, evens on the right. Counting from 70 to 79. Looking on the right, Ken soon found a room numbered 72 and he knew there destination had been reached and there was no turning back now. Summoning his kagune, the four tentacles glowed with a fierce red that seemed to echo his thoughts. Next to him, Touka summoned her singular wing that flickered with red and black flames that gave off a dim light in the already bright hall. As soon as Ken was about to break in the door, he felt a fleshy leather hit the back of his head and turned to Touka who had put on her mask as his own lay on the ground below him. Reaching down, he picked up the dark mask and shoved it in his pocket "I want her to know who killed her." He snarled as he turned and sent his kagune through the door. Tearing the metal object off it's hinges, he revealed a room lit lightly by a small chandelier that hung along with small gems that circled it. Soon finding his target who had been startled by this and fallen off her bed, she got to her feet and lunged for a bright red button that set off an alarm and revealed a small case which held a gun. A gun with bullets made of kagunes.  
Touka shied away from the small barrel of the handgun and attacked with her shards sending them into the gun, sending it flying across the room and the lady scrambling after it.  
Kaneki lunged at this opportunity just as the woman got the gun back in her hands. Not reacting quick enough as the human, she shot the half ghoul in the shoulder. Lucky her aim was terrible. Sending his kagune to capture her gun and toss it aside, the tentacles grabbed each of the woman's limbs and held the stiffly. As he glare up at the woman only then did she realize who he was. "Ka-Kaneki! You monster!" She started to scream and kick but it was a useless waste of energy. She was going to die anyways. Pulling her limbs farther and farther apart until she screamed and begged to make this pain end he whispered just loud enough for his aunt to hear. "This is for my mom. Your sister." With that, he sped forward and twisted her neck until it popped and sent her body into a limp state. She was dead now. This mission was over.  
Touka watched the rather gruesome scene and had to turn her head at one point. Waiting for the screaming to end, there was a thud of a body against the floor and turned to Kaneki who had his kagune hanging low almost to imitate his shoulders. "It's over." He said with a small, weak laugh. Stepping forward she went to grab Ken's hand but withdrew and instead spoke "We need to get out. The alarm probably called investigators."  
Ken didn't seem to want to take the time to go down the stairs but instead grabbed Touka in a quick bridal hold and she reacted by clutching herself around his chest as he shot out the window. Kagune forming into almost a ball like formation, he hit the ground and rolled a couple feet after the thick tentacles left a couple dents in the smooth earth. After this Kaneki was more than surprised that his kagune didn't shatter from this impact but decided to throw the thought away. Placing Touka on her feet, the two took off in a sprint with their kagune's trailing out behind them, slowly retreating back to their body. Taking the most out of the way routes, the two must've sprinted a good kilometer or two before their stamina - especially Touka's - was depleted. Slowing into a walk, the two breathed heavily. They got away with murder. Then again, they always seemed to. Ken and Touka walked in silence as they knew what they would've shared was not for human ears.  
Upon reaching the cafe, she noticed that whoever had been working late had closed the shop and locked the doors. Luckily Touka held a spare key. Unlocking the door to let themselves in, they closed and locked it behind them. Immediately Touka spoke up.  
"I didn't think it was possible for a kagune to survive a drop like that."  
"I've done it before."  
"Are you sure your fine then?"  
"Yeah... Let's just go to bed now."  
Touka nodded as she noticed the fatigue in Ken's eyes and walked up the stairs to her room with Ken slowly trailing behind her, his steps slow with exhaustion. Upon reaching her room she finally spoke again "You can have the bed. I'll be fine on the floor." The white haired boy now looked at the dark haired ghoul and half pleaded as she made the suggestion "Can you please sleep with me? I was comfy last night..."  
Ken looked at Touka as she seemed to be debating on whether or not to agreed with his request. Finally, she heaved a sigh and agreed. Turning to her dresser, she grabbed a long T-shirt and shorts that were basically spandex while Ken just decided to toss off his shirt and change into a pair of longer shorts.  
Touka turned back to Ken and almost changed her mind as she saw his shirt off. Damnit. Forcing herself forward, she slipped into the bed with Kaneki who had lifted the covers for her. As the covers went down over her form, she felt his arm wrap around her abdomen and pull her closer. He was rather warm and quite the ideal heat. Maybe one night would be alright. Suddenly, in the midst of thought, she felt warm lips against the back of her head and reacted by ducking away. Hopefully he got the hint as they both drifted to sleep in the warmth of each other's arms.


	4. Careful Where You Tread (Bonus chapter -

Waking up to the sunlight filtering into her room, Touka took a second to gather her thoughts about last night. Only then did she realize that there was a warm hand on her smooth stomach that was creeping up slowly. Shifting herself to face the owner of that very hand, the hand was forced to go to her back. Bringing her face up a bit, she finally was awake enough to realize that her face was only inches for Ken's own. Their breath seemed to hitch in their throat at this moment of realization. Did they really like each other? Touka thought this impossible but Kaneki seemed to have other thoughts as he dipped in to steal a kiss. Sadly, he failed to place this peck where he wanted as his lips were met with a hand. Quickly removing his hand from her back and bringing the other up to grasp the hand, he flipped it to the back of her hand and placed a firm peck there. All this had caused Touka's face to break into a bright red. "Did the gourmet teach you that?" She joked trying to cover up her embarrassment.  
"Actually, I learned that myself." Kaneki commented as he moved himself swiftly over the girl until he had trapped all her limbs. His hands held both of her wrists and the white haired boy's knees had placed themselves tightly around her outer thighs.  
Touka was more than shocked by what happened in a mere second. Feeling her heartbeat start to race as she was trapped under Ken. His eyes gave away his thoughts as he started to lean forward. Heart still picking up speed, thoughts shot through her mind. This is what she wanted, right? Ken was the closest friend she had, was it alright to become closer than just that? Was i-. Her thoughts vanished as the warm lips were suddenly upon her own. They were firm, yet velvet soft and the kiss started slow, smooth and enjoyable but soon became sloppy and desperate due to a mix of their current emotions and feelings for each other.  
"Um. Is this a bad time or something?" A familiar voice asked with a snicker. Nishiki. Damnit that ghoul seemed to be involved in their life. Touka's face flushed a bit as she heard the voice and tried to pull away but Ken dictated when this moment was going to end. A few seconds later there was a nervous cough coming from the door and only then did Kaneki sit up and release Touka. "It would seem that you chose a bad time." He commented with a shrug moving to sit at the edge of the bed, his back slightly hunched over. Touka looked over Ken's shoulder at Nishiki who just seemed to be deciding on how to embarrass them more; but surprisingly the orange haired ghoul left with a couple quick words. "Make it quick. I'll cover your shift for only another hour. Maximum." He shut the door behind them letting Touka's eyes drift over to Kaneki's back. There, on his shoulder was a decent sized black lined wolf tattoo, but something else seemed to catch her eyes. A large black and purple bruise where his Kagune would come from. Why hadn't it healed?  
"Ken... Are you sure your alright from last night?"  
"Yeah. I should be fine."  
"Are you sure?" As she spoke, she reached up and rested her hand gently on the bruise causing Ken to jerk away. The silver eyed boy let out a small nervous laugh. "Maybe not."  
Touka took a second to think how this could happen and why it hadn't healed yet. "Kaneki, I think you managed to injure your kagune when you jumped out of your aunt's window. The impact might've offset your kagune and you might end up without it for a day or so. It's kinda like a human breaking an arm, except we heal faster." She spoke with a this-is-nothing-new-to-me tone. "Did you study to become a doctor for ghouls or something?" His voice had a half hidden seductive tone as the half ghoul looked her over, a small smile came to his face and he went to reach his hand for Touka's back to bring her closer and steal another kiss from her soft lips but this was quickly stopped by a bruising slap from Touka. Realizing that the girl he had know for so long must think of him of having a sudden libido of a jackrabbit, a small frown formed on his face. He hadn't noticed his discomfort down below until now. Grabbing a pillow to hide the problem, he looked towards the ground with a small cough.  
This... Would be an interesting day for them both.


	5. Never Shall I Leave Your Side

After three days of a slight awkwardness between the two and the constant teasing from Nishiki, it was time for Kaneki to head out and continue his set mission, but Touka was not okay with him leaving her- again.  
Kaneki said his goodbyes to his friends in the cafe with a disappointed look in his eyes that was hidden by a cool, collected smile. When he got to Touka... He had his predictions on what would happen.  
Touka had a hardened look in her eyes as well as a glare sharp as her kagune's crystals. Walking strait up the Kaneki, she crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one leg.  
"I'm not leaving you again."  
"What about your studies?"  
"I passed them already. Worked my ass off to finish my fourth year as well as my third year. I graduated and I'm free to do what I wish. And I choose to join your group."  
"But you worked so hard to graduate. Why would you give it up?"  
"The diploma lasts for ten years after you graduate."  
"Ah..."  
Looks like Kaneki's argument would not persuade Touka the slightest. She would follow him to the end and throw herself in the way of anything to save him, like she did with Jason about a year and a half ago. This time, he would stay with her though and he'd be her hero and she his. Blinking out of the cliche thought, Kaneki examined Touka once and for all. She had gotten her strength up in the small time he had been here and he only could guess her skill could grow. "Fine." He sighed softly as she visibly relaxed.  
Touka let a small grin slip past her hardened features as she spoke "I was going with you anyways."  
Kaneki looked down at Touka again and noticed that she had black running tights on and a dark hoody that would hide her face if need be. Guess she was going to be with him whether he liked it or not. He himself wore an outfit Shuu insisted he should wear around. Running a hand through his white hair, he finally spoke.  
"We should be heading out now. We don't want to be wasting time now." As he spoke, they walked out of the shop and a couple other male ghouls were soon around them. "Huh? We have another one joining us?" That one was nudged a bit from another guy. "Hey, shut up. We finally got ourselves a female. A woman I could fancy." He gave Touka a wink causing Kaneki to step between the two and gave the man a livid glare. This all was exactly like a wolf pack with dominance order. Kaneki seemed to be the enforcing alpha while Shuu seemed to be second in command or beta. All the others omegas. Considering Touka was the only female of the group, that instantly pushed her rank up next to Kaneki and in the pack order they would be considered mates. But they weren't as far as Touka was concerned.  
Kaneki finally spoke again as the group started to understand what was going on. "Touka, this is Ichimi, Jiro, and Sante. You know the other two. Shuu. Banjo."  
Jiro spoke up with a hidden grin on his pale face. "We call ourselves The Kabeki Klan."  
Touka gave a small snicker at the man who had spoken up "That's cheesy as hell. You act like a wolf pack, not a clan."  
Kaneki smiled a bit at Touka's comment. "That's what I said. Thus is why I have a wolf tattoo." Pulling down the corner of his shirt on his shoulder to show off the dark lines of the tattoo, he felt the warm finger of Shuu suddenly upon him tracing the detail. Reacting, Kaneki shot his opposite foot into the ghoul's chest and brought his closer foot strait up in a kicking form, directly hitting the gourmet in the face. Using the kick to balance himself in the air, Kaneki flipped his center of gravity causing his body to preform a backflip and landing on his feet. With his attack done and Shuu stumbling backwards, Kaneki growled "I told you to never touch me again."  
Touka heard Shuu curse under his breath and add a "grossier." To Ken. Keeping a good 3 meters from the majority of the group, she walked along with them in silence as they headed toward one of the lower wards. There would be more experienced ghouls in the lower wards, including her brother.

Eventually, the group had gone through a couple wards leaving them to the sixteenth ward. That's where they would be staying tonight.

Touka looked up at the small hotel with a raised eyebrow of question. "Where did you get the yen to afford this?" Kaneki turned back to the new group member and gave a small snicker "A ghoul who supports what we do owns this place. Consider it a sponsor." And with that the group of seven entered the small building and went up to the front desk to find a muscular young man about twenty-two-ish. He was rather handsome too with nice, chiseled cheek bones and a slightly tanned face with midnight dark hair. Blinking at the man, she tilted her head the slightest bit as he winked at her.  
Kaneki noticed this and was not particularly fond of the small gesture. Walking forward towards the man he began in a serious tone to get them away from the ghoul "We had two rooms set up for the group." The man had a soft Italian accent that almost made both Shuu and Touka swoon behind Kaneki "Ah, but no. The woman should deserve a room to herself. I will happily gift her that." He gave a little bow and drew out three keys for the top floor. "If you'd all follow me, I'll escort you to your rooms."  
With that, the group followed the Italian towards the elevator which they all managed to cram into, with Kaneki forcing himself between Touka and the ghoul.  
Finally, they reached the eighth floor and was escorted to the end of the hall where rooms were given. "Three of you. Eight-Fourteen." He patted the door where the three from the seventh ward took the key and entered their room. "You three men. Eight-Sixteen." With than, Kaneki snatched the key and opened the door for Shuu and Banjo but remained outside.  
The soft voiced ghoul spoke "Are you going to go back to your room Kaneki?"  
Sharply, the boy responded "Hell. No."  
"But you need to rest, yes?"  
"I don't trust you with Touka."  
"Is she your partner?"  
Touka burst into the conversation from here. "Uh, no no. Ken." She looked back at the white haired boy with a hardened look "I'll be fine." Soon enough, the half ghoul huffed and entered his room, closing the door behind him.  
As soon as the door closed, the Italian was upon her. "So, Touka is your name huh? A beautiful name for a beautiful girl." He brought his hand up to stroke her cheek but Touka jerked away. "Ey, now. It's alright, yes?" The dark haired girl pressed herself against the wall to be as far away from this ghoul as possible but he was persistent in his chase. Soon his chest was pressed to hers making her feel rather uncomfortable. "No. This is no-" The darker ghoul cut her off by placing his lips over her own rather forcefully. When she tried to slip away, he trapped her with his hands. Turning her head to break this forced action, she heard him purr "We are going to have fun tonight, m'lady."  
Within a second of those words leaving his mouth, Kaneki's door burst open with his eyes blazing. "Maybe, next time you should make sure your walls are thicker so I can't hear you." Stepping forward, his kagune appeared causing the opposing ghoul to take up his own kagune which was a glowing silver koukaku that had a formed to a rapier around his right arm. According to the doves, Kaneki's kagune was weaker toward the koukaku but hers, the ukaku, was about equal to the Italian's. Summoning her kagune as well, a little voice in the back of her mind screamed at her to stop as there were human customers in this building. Initially, she ignored the voice. Ken had stepped forward to challenge the ghoul and placed himself in a battle stance in which the opposer snickered. Watching the hotel owner lunge forward at Ken, the white haired boy's kagune reacted and caught the attack in between two pulsing red tentacles. Twisting his kagune to throw the man, he rushed forward to trap him with his foot on his chest, each strand of crimson trapping a limb. "I'll be with Touka tonight. Not some man searching to bed a woman." With that, he grabbed the key and returned to the room while his kagune began to fade. Unlocking the room, he watched to see the opposing ghoul had limped away to go lick his wounds he had just received. As Touka entered the room, her kagune dissolved when the door was slammed behind Ken. His eyes still blazed with anger but as they rested on the dark haired girl, they began softening.  
Some time went by as the two became settled in the large room. The others received rooms with three twin beds but Touka and Ken had gotten lucky enough to share a king. They knew their clothes had to stay as clean as possible as well as themselves. They took turns in the shower and as for night clothes- simple underwear. Touka had a sports bra and light boy shorts while Ken wore boxers. As the ghoul stepped out of the bathroom in the underwear, the silver eyed boy seemed to feast his eyes upon her lean body and soft curves, sending the girl into a dark blush and rushing toward the bed to take refuge under the covers. Her plan was instantly stopped as Kaneki tightened the slack in the covers making them impossible to lift. "Kaneki." She half growled half whined. He just snickered at her. How dare he. Leaping at Ken, she tried her best to remove his hands from the sheet but they were firm. Within a couple seconds, it became a pure wrestling match between the two half naked bodied. Ken was striking her softly in the side sending her into small fits of giggles mixed with a yell to stop. Soon enough, Kaneki had advanced to a position over Touka and trapped her limbs like he had a couple days back. Hovering over her, he noticed how they were panting from their little match and Touka was half out of breath from all the giggling. She had slowed her breathing and looked up at Ken as though expecting something which earned her a tch from the white haired boy as he leaned down, releasing her limbs to get closer. As his lips rested upon her own, the female ghoul tilted her head to deepen the kiss. Her hands traveled down to his abs then around his mid stomach to his back. Hands still traveling as the kiss continued to get deeper and hotter, her fingers began to play with a couple white strands of hair.  
Kaneki's hands began to travel on their own, and ended up right below her sports bra. Fingers testing what they could get away with, Kaneki slipped a couple fingers under the support line causing Touka to twist herself away and break the kiss. "Kaneki... Not... Today." She panted softly trying to regain her breath. Finishing off the moment with a quick peck to his lower lip, he captured her again by tilting his head forward. Once again, they were in a battle of roaming hands, lips and tongue.  
Touka couldn't find it in herself to argue. This is what she wanted. Nipping Ken's bottom lip a little too hard, it split open and spilt a little blood into her mouth before healing over. She loved how he tasted. Different. He wasn't just partially sweet with a hint of bitterness but almost fully sweet and a small taste of iron. It was almost a taste that could be addicting. Letting her tongue slide across the now closed wound, Ken took this moment to his advantage and put himself in a more dominant position that would make it difficult for her to regain ground. The female ghoul felt a tight, wet feeling below her waist as the white haired boy's knee rammed into her naval- not purposefully. A small sigh escaped her lips and Ken froze. She could guess why... And this needed to stop before it escalated beyond what they were capable of controlling. Regaining herself, Touka stopped Ken's movements by placing a soft hand on his chest. "Kaneki... Please, not now." She whimpered through pants. "Let's just sleep."  
Kaneki was surprised how he lost full control of himself at this moment and how quickly Touka had managed to bring him down from his act upon instincts. A small pause took place as he figured they both wanted what was about to take place but they initially knew right now was not the time. Finally rolling over to his side of the bed he allowed Touka to get under the covers as he dealt with his own 'problems'. As he flicked off the lamp next to the bed, he felt the bed shift as Touka had moved over, waiting for him to join her. As he placed himself next to her, he felt one of her legs wrap over his knees. Head rested in the nook in between his shoulders and bicep, he heard her let out a small sigh of being content. "So." He began in a soft tone. "Are we partners or not?" He began to mock the italian's accent but was interrupted by Touka. "If you mean proposing that we are going steady?" Ken gave a small laugh "I suppose so." The dark haired girl nodded. "Well, I'll agree to that." The silver eyed boy's smile was unnoticeable in the dark as he spoke. "Good."  
As the night went on, the two began to slip into a comforting slumber by each other's shared warmth.


	6. Try Me

Touka was awaken by a movement. A shifting of the bed. A small yawn escaping her lips, she sat up and looked toward Ken who was slipping on his clothes. "'Morning." She said lazily as she got to her feet and began changing back into her clothes. Upon finishing, she brought her hands through her dark hair as she looked out the window at the small green area outside. Her mind must've wandered because she hardly noticed the warm breath on the exposed part of her neck and hands that rested softly against her hips. Closing her eyes, a chill went up her back. "Shouldn't we be going?" She asked softy as a small peck was placed on her neck.  
Kaneki sighed softly "I suppose." With that, he retrieved his hands only to grab Touka's as he turned and led her to the door. Letting her hand drop as she tugged away she spoke up.  
"Kaneki. Can we keep what's between us private?"  
"I don't see why not."  
"I just don't want your group to think that the only reason I'm here is because we share feelings for each other."  
"I see your point. Alright. We'll keep this quiet."

"..."  
"Thanks, Ken."  
"Mhm."  
Touka followed Kaneki out of the room to see the group already waiting. Instantly she was bombarded with questions. "Did you two have a good time. Wink Wink, Nudge Nudge." "Are you glowing or is it just my eyes deceiving me?" She was not okay with this. "Kaneki slept on the floor." When she said this there was instantly a "hehe, yeah right."  
Ken noticed Touka's discomfort and spoke up. "I was stuck sleeping on the floor. Really. Now let's get going." With that, he began walking towards the stairs with the group trailing behind him.

The group had taken their time fighting ghouls who didn't agree with them as they went through three wards. This took about a week and sadly they had lost ground from their objective.

Touka's kagune shot out a number if bullet sized crystals and struck through the flesh of an opposing ghoul. Running past her opponent, she used one of the alley walls to flip her direction almost above the ghoul. Striking with an extended foot, she gave no mercy as she cut through the ghoul's neck with her now bladed kagune. Watching blood splatter the walls and splash onto herself, the head and body hit the ground with a thud. Licking her lips to wet them, there was a terrible taste. Ghoul blood. It was said to make ghouls stronger and that obviously was true as Ken had taken a 180 in his training since he got back. She was the one being trained now. Gathering her thoughts for later, as she kneeled she brought out a rag to wipe herself down from the blood. Upon finishing, she tossed the used fabric and stood.  
Stiffening as she felt someone's presence behind her, she brought her right elbow back towards their head but decided to use that as a fake and struck with her knee as she twisted the opposite direction of her previous attack. Cursing as the hooded person blocked the attack, she ducked as they sent out a lazy attack and caught their arm. This was not a battle for kagunes it seemed. Letting her own fade, Touka kicked upwards and just missed their crotch. She needed to place a couple hard hits now before she was completely worn. She was speed based and had little stamina but she still managed to build that stamina. Sending a flurry of punches, she finally managed to nail the guy in the chest sending him reeling backward, his dark hood falling from his head to reveal white hair.  
Relaxing a bit, Touka looked at Ken with an annoyed look while she crossed her arms. "What the hell." She growled as Kaneki walked toward her looking ready to respond. "Your training has really worked out for you. Maybe you can beat Banjo now." Scoffing, she walked toward Ken until they were a good foot apart. "Yeah, right. I'll kick his sorry ass if I need to." Touka responded as Ken lifted his hands in front of his chest. "Whoa now. Look who's the cocky one." Touka rolled her eyes as she began walking toward the group that was gathered a bit away. "Piss off."  
Ken frowned as Touka walked away from him. Their little relationship had suffered a bit this past week from disagreements that varied from stupid topics to more serious topics. One thing that really seemed to get her pissed off was when he said something along the lines of 'don't worry about me' when he decided to go off and fight some ass who decided it was a good idea to mass murder innocent ghouls in the area.  
Then again, ghouls are never innocent.  
Upon reaching the group, she motioned for them to follow and surprisingly enough, they obeyed without question causing Ken to have to jog over before they left him.  
"Really, Touka. What the hell is wrong with you recently?"  
"What's wrong with me?! Maybe you should be looking in a mirror."  
"That's exactly what I mean."  
"I honestly don't give a shit right now. Save it for someone who cares."  
Ken was put off by this. What had he done to put her a state like this? Shaking his head, he shot forward and shoved Touka to a wall with a little more force than what was necessary and trapped her arms in a bruising hold.  
"Did you every consider how your actions effect me?!" He growled loudly.  
"Did you ever think about what you've said to me? Really! You incompetent little shit!" She screamed pulling away only to be trapped again with the group watching slightly awkwardly at the side.  
"I though we had something." He frowned and swallowed. Shaking his head, Ken released Touka who rubbed her arms before returning to the group. "Come on. Let's go." He said sourly to the six of them only to be held back by one of the three from the seventh ward. "I'm not following either of you until you get that broken relationship of yours fixed. You both seem off in your attacks which are blindly followed through by pent up anger. We'll be in the hotel that some guy offered us." With that, five of them took off towards their new destination leaving an angry Touka and a pissed off Ken.  
"I'm not doing shit with you." Touka growled stomping away with her central finger extended at Ken who was highly offended by this.  
Jogging over to walk in stride with the girl, he saw her stiffen but ignored it. "What did I do wrong? We were fine a couple days back but now?"  
Touka turned to face him, eyes narrowed. "You thought I couldn't care for myself."  
"I allowed you to come with me, right?"  
"Hmf. I guess."  
"Can we... I don't know, pretend like this all never happened."  
"We can pretend but it'll still be there."  
Ken nodded his head and they walked in silence for a bit. "Um... What do humans do to pass times..." A thought struck his mind that made his grin widen. "We are going clubbing."  
"Wha-?"  
Kaneki grabbed Touka's arm and dragged her towards a shop nearby that was run by a ghoul by the scent of it. The store was a clothing store with an interesting array of dresses and suits. "Get what you want, but make sure it's nice!" He grinned leaving Touka speachless.  
Eyebrows furrowed in confusion, she looked around with a puzzled look. Had he just acted like nothing had happened and they were back to normal?  
Walking though the isles of clothes, she stopped at a sign that offered a free free outfit, hair and makeup- only the catch was risky- the stylist got to choose how you looked. After staring at the sign for a while, she was grabbed by two small hands and shoved toward a back door. "You are obviously interested in our special~ I'll get that done for ya!" A voice chirped behind her as she gave a little struggle but eventually gave up.  
It felt like an hour until the girl had finished.  
A long hour of putting on multiple dresses, trying hair styles and experimenting with makeup.  
A complete makeover.  
Upon stepping out of the room steadily on the three inch black heels she was given, Touka went to run a hand through her hair but was swatted to avoid it being ruined. The small blonde had added extensions so her hair fell past her shoulders just a little past her collar bone which was exposed thanks to her low dress, which was a tight little long sleeved crimson red dress that barely went past her mid thighs. It also had what looked to be many cuts in the side and towards a mirror, she quickly took in her makeup. A smokey black eye shadow was applied while her eyes were lined with a coal black eyeliner. Her lips almost matched her dress but they were a little more natural while all her features were carefully contoured. She could hardly recognize that girl in the mirror.  
Snapping out of her thoughts as a voice squeaked "Oh! I knew that your Ukaku would look great with that dress!" Touka turned to the smaller girl. "How do you know what kagune I have?!" The blonde let out a little yip of laughter as she responded "I guess that's just one of my abilities. I see all ghouls in their ghoul form instead of a human disguise." Nodding, the chatty girl continued "And, I see that one eyed ghoul over there seems fairly impressed by your new looks."  
Touka turned around to see Ken staring at her with a grin. His usual naive, four year old grin. Blushing, she was about to thank the odd girl but she was already gone leaving both of them alone. Looking Ken up and down quickly, she noticed what he wore was a little more casual. A button up shirt that was a dark grey and darker pants and his hair was neatly combed through but he drew his hand through it to mess it up. Personally, it looked better like that.  
"Uh, Kaneki, you... look nice?"  
Ken let out a small laugh. "So do you. Now, the club is down the street and I have no clue what to expect. Lets go." With that, he captured both of her hands with his own and pulled her close to place a small peck on her cheek bone only to get shoved off a bit. Huffing, he let go of one of her hands to escort her outside .  
After the two walked a block or two, they finally came up on a red lit path into a dark alley with a sign above it. "Club of Ghouls." Touka mouthed and laughed. "Doesn't smell like ghouls have been down this path recently."  
Ken nodded and as they reached the bouncer, he paid for them to enter. As the entered, a blast of music hit their ears and strobe light flashed around them. It smelled terribly of human and alcohol... Wait a moment. Could he smell booze? Weird. Guess he'll investigate that later. Pulling an arm around Touka's shoulder to bring her close, he noticed passed out bodies near the bar and quite a bit of dirty dancing on the floor. "Eh, interesting?" Ken had to yell above the music with a raised eyebrow. "Let's go."  
"We just got here but..."  
"I meant dance."  
Touka nodded as she and Ken went towards the mix of close bodies dancing only to merge in and start dancing themselves.  
To think they wanted to kill each other this morning.  
Almost getting separated multiple times, not to mention the whores that roamed the area, both men and women, tried to take them for a 'private show' more than once, they decided to get a little deeper into the crowd only to regret it as they saw some things that didn't need to be seen.  
Near the edge of the crowd seemed appropriate for the two as they started to ditto the moves that some couples were using.  
Soon enough Ken leaned in close enough to Touka's ear to whisper into it.  
"I don't know if you can smell the alcohol. Can you?"  
"It smells terrible but not as bad as human food."  
"It's supposed to smell and taste bad."  
"Let's try it then."  
With that, they went to the bar and ordered two shots each. Ken was the first curious one to try it. Lifting the glass up to his lips, he splashed the glass into his mouth and swallowed the contents. Relaxing a bit, a grin spread from ear to ear. "Tastes the same as it did before." Encouraging Touka to finish it, she took the challenge. Swallowing it, a chill went up her spine. "Okay, I guess it tastes fine. But it still tastes like shit." She said blinking.  
Kaneki finished off his second shot and leaned toward Touka to inform her of something else. "Usually would've felt a buzz by now, but it seems we have more of a tolerance."  
Touka nodded and read what else they had. The rainbow challenge? Sounded really lame... Wha- "We'll take the challenge of the day." She heard Ken speak and sure enough it was the rainbow challenge. Watching the bartender lay out six shot glasses in front of each of them. Red orange yellow green blue and violet shots. "If you finish this, anything you want, on the house." She heard him say but waited. instead for the magic word. Go. There it was.  
Lifting up the red glass and pouring the liquor down into her mouth, she slammed the glass down to pick up the orange and did the same with the other three glasses. By the time Touka was on the blue, she heard a voice chirp behind her. "Oh! Your exactly where I thought I would find you~ I need a favor." Only after finishing the final glass a millisecond after Ken did she turn around. "Hm?" She asked with a raised eyebrows she turned to find the blonde from the store. The shots hadn't really effected her besides the slight swaying of her vision.  
"Yep! I need a favor from you!"  
"What kinda favor?"  
"Well... You see, out dancers didn't come tonight but it doesn't take a genius to make up moves and dance in some outfits to-"  
"Whoa- stop! There is no way I am doing any of that! Why don't you use one of the whores walking around?"  
"Well... You see, they're all busy."  
Kaneki then burst into the conversation. "Touka- you'd should do it."  
Turning to Ken with a surprised look, Touka tilted her head "Your not as sober as I'd think right now. We're leaving."  
"But Touka~" Ken began, his eyes slightly glazed over. Had he drank more booze while she was talking?  
The blonde began "Touka-chan! Please! I'll pay you three times the regular amount plus tips!"  
"No! I told you we are leaving." With that she stood up and grasped Ken's arm and started dragging him along.  
The blonde seemed disappointed but an angry fire took hold of her eyes as she brought out two needles with kagune tips and lunged forward to shove it into Touka and Kaneki's back. "Well, my name is Calle so you don't have to call me that bitch that numbed your kagunes to almost useless and turned you in."  
Touka yelped at the needle and jumped away from where it had been inserted. Kaneki meanwhile had tried to sober up and half successfully did so. Bringing out his kagune and throwing on his mask that he had shoved in his shirt, he lunged forward to attack but he noticed that only half of his kagune came out.  
Looks like they were on the run now. The two had began to sprint forward as the bouncer blocked their path and brought out a quinque.  
"Dammit!" Touka cursed as only the small side of kagune emerged. Luckily, it could still shoot those needles and the bouncer cleared as one was able to detach the weapon from his hand allowing them a break away. Making it outside the club, the began a run through a maze of trash filled alley ways, forcing their now heavy bodies along.  
Kaneki cursed as he tripped and fell, skidding across the pavement. Touka had stopped and kneeled down next to him as he fell. "Come on!" She forced out taking hold of Ken's shirt and dragging him into a brick building that appeared abandoned.  
"I see why ghouls don't drink... Way too dangerous." Kaneki cringed sitting himself up. "Never let me have another drink. Ever."  
"Same goes for me." Touka breathed as the chilly night air started to come into effect. It was 30 degrees Fahrenheit according to the club and that was way to cold to start with. Just below freezing too. Bringing her body close to Ken's to share heat, she shivered as she was lacking a significant amount of clothing.  
Upon Ken noticing this, he gave her his jacket which she placed over them both as they drifted off with the occasional shiver.

Author's Note #2:  
Well... Who would've guessed alcohol effected ghouls? Guess there's a first for everything. At least we know our characters won't be trying anything stupid soon. Heh. Heheh.


	7. Restart

Authors Note:  
Dammit guys. I am sorry for the short chapter.

Kaneki woke up feeling a warmth on one side of him while the other side was numb with the freezing cold air blowing by him due to a draft in the building. Turning his head toward the warmth, a soft smile lit up his features as Touka was still asleep, curled up against his for warmth. Twisting his both to rest his lips against the crest of her head which was covered in silky, dark hair, he pulled back after a few seconds only to see the ghoul's eyes fluttering open to reveal an endless sea of obsidian dark eyes tinted with red veins and a crimson center. By the tightness of his left eye and the pulsing, blurry vision, his ghoul eye must be showing as well.

Touka groaned as hunger ripped through her stomach like a knife from the inside trying to get out causing the girl to cringe. "Found the other side effect to alcohol to ghouls..." She trailed as she glanced up at Ken, his white hair covering a portion of his ghoul eye while his dark silver eyes shone with a bright curiosity. "How can you stand that pain without being irritated!?" She asked pulling herself up with the help of the cold brick wall that caused her to shiver once more.

Ken blinked back to focus on Touka as she stood. Oh, right, she asked a question. "I can't." He said bluntly getting to his feet causing his vision to be filled with little dots. Waiting for the things to clear, he turned his head back to the ghoul who was now crouched down, clutching her stomach as a growl was faintly heard. Walking forward to confront the girl, he grabbed her hand and brought her back to her feet.

As Touka was put back on her feet, she leaned forward to rest against Ken's chest which was surprisingly warm and... Giving off a delicious scent. Feeling her mouth start to water, she leaned her head away from the white haired boy who was getting the clues.

Kaneki backed away from the girl who almost fell forward without his support but she stiffened as she saw he had removed his specialized kagune knife that could pierce his skin. Bringing the blade swiftly across his palm, he hardly flinched as a pool of blood started to fill up his hand. "Touka. Please." He said with a calm tone as the girl had lunged forward to take in the red shining liquid until every drop was gone and Ken's wound healed over.

Touka was unable to control herself when the blood started to spill and saw nothing of importance. Except the blood. After she had drank what was given, she forced herself away and wiped the crimson liquid from around her mouth with her sleeve. That was enough blood to last her a day or so but she and Ken both needed flesh. Quickly creating a plan, she spoke rapidly "Just, stay here. I'll get us some flesh in no time." With that, she backed out of the building, swinging open the iron door leaving Ken to darkness.

Touka tried her best to job down the dark alley in her heels but it was evident, that was an impossible job and eventually tossed the shoes into an over filled garbage can that reeked of human foods. As she made her way down the maze like location, she eventually came upon a man yelling and kicking at a young dog that looked more wolf that dog. Shooting out of the shadows and inflicting the same damage she had done on Nishiki a while ago, she turned to find the man crumpled to the ground struggling for breath.

Striking the man's head with her foot, Touka heard a pop and knew he was dead. Leaning over her prey, she heard a small whining behind her from the dog as it approached her with a low body posture, it's black body laced with white spots at the top of the thick fur that was so low to the ground that his belly fur was almost dragging against the asphalt. Touka wasn't a genius but she knew this was a lesser dominant position towards a more dominant. As the dog came closer, he lowered his head and lifted it to lick under her chin, which caused her to stand and wipe a small amount of warm slobber of. "What? You want some too?" She asked crouching down again and tearing off an arm and tossing it towards the dog which picked up the arm and turned to run.

"Figures." Touka sighed tearing off the much needed pieces of flesh from the bloody body and stashing it in a plastic bag. Hiding the body in a tin garbage can along with other trash, she started out towards were she left Ken.

As Touka neared the building, a recognizable scent hit her nose. Blood. Dropping the bag of flesh, she sprinted towards the large rusted iron door and threw it open to reveal a massacre of bodies, with Ken's against one wall. His white hair stained with blood, his body crumpled against the brick, pale as ever. Running over towards him, she quickly got to her knees and gathered him against her instead of the wall. "Touka..." She heard him whisper faintly. "Someone... Door."

Within a second of him speaking, the door shot open to reveal a large investigator with a smaller one racing after him in a child like manor, using his arms like an airplane's wings to act like he was flying around. Only then did he notice the ghouls and bodies. "Amon~ It's the ones we saw in the subway!" The white haired boy chirped. "Yeah. I kno-. Wait! Don't shoot them yet!" He yelled kicking the gun out of the younger dove's hand. Bringing out his quinque, Amon looked the the two before his eyes flashed. "Good night."

Touka brought Kaneki close and placed her lips against the back of his head in comfort while she glared at that dove. "Well, what are you gonna do." She yelled, eyes blazing.

"This." Amon countered as he pulled out an odd looking gun with needles coated in a strong medicine that would put them to sleep on the dot. Shooting, he missed the dark haired girl and she rolled but managed to sedate the white haired one that looked faint. "Make it easy for us! Your gonna lose!" He growled shooting at the girl who dodged each needle with ease. Suddenly, a shot rang out and the ghoul fell forward, clutching her ankle. "Got her~" chirped the boy as Amon finally sunk a needle into her.

In Ken and Touka's world, all was black but the investigators were only seeing success.


	8. Moments of Misery

Kaneki and Touka didn't wake up. They were in a state of a comma for the time being as the needles had done their job and dissolved into their bloodstream. All weapons by the investigators were kagune based and could severely injure anyone... Including the user. Amon had gotten pricked by a backfire of the machine and was also in a deep sleep.

Kaneki woke up in a field of red and white flowers. Similar to those that he had encountered with Rize. Looking up at the perfect sky, he turned his head one way and saw nothing but flowers. When he turned his head the other way, he noticed a dark figure lying next to him in a long silk dress that rested carefully on each of her curves. Her dark hair outline her face as a small breeze pushed a couple strands in front of her closed eyes as he sat up and relaxed. Touka. Reaching over to move the strands, he panicked when his hand went straight through her face like a ghost.

Touka's eyes shot open when she felt a numb sensation in her cheek causing her to sit up and look around. Red and white flowers around her in an endless field. Kaneki?! Moving forward towards him, she stopped as he watched her with guarded eyes. One which was his ghoul eye. Getting to her feet, a thought hit her as another breeze whisked through her hair carrying the unforgettable scent of her mother. Shoulders beginning to shake, she let out a soft "No." And tears began to stream from her eyes causing the flowers below to turn white.

Kaneki had gotten to his feet and walked toward Touka once more hoping to make contact with her. "We're dead. Aren't we?" Touka sobbed as he assumed she felt his presence approaching. Instead of answering, he slid his fingers in front of her eyes, interlaced them and prevented her from looking around.

Moments passed like this until Touka's sobbing had subsided and her breathing evened. Only then did Ken allow her to turn towards him and she immediately threw her arms around him and the white haired boy answered by wrapping his arms around the small of her back in comfort. He was finally able to touch her again.

"You've been here before, haven't you?" Touka whispered softly.

"One time too many..." Ken trailed. "When Jason tortured me... To talk to Rize... To change my look on myself."

Touka finally released her arms from Ken but he held on a little longer to place a small kiss on her forehead. When she was released, she took hold of Ken's hand and turned to look over the rolling hills of red and white. Only then did she noticed her mother. Dropping Kaneki's hand, she started to sprint forward toward her mum only to see her walk away causing Touka to speed up. This seemed to last for a minute or so of remaining the same distance away from her until the dark haired girl was depleted of stamina and dropped to her knees. Only then did her mother notice her and appear beside her. "Touka? Oh..." With that, her mum's arms were around her in a tight embrace only to be let go of in a second.

"Dear, I can tell your still alive."

"I don't want to lo-"

"You have my fire. Don't put that to waste... Return back."

"Mom, I can't!"

"You just need a little reminder is all. When I was your age, I had this same talk with your grandmother and so on. She gifted me the last of herself to empower me and move me forward."

Touka's mom lifted her sleeve to reveal a wing branded on her tricep. Almost the same thing happened to Ken except his hair turned white. Suddenly she felt a burning sensation on her back were her kagune formed causing her to choke and struggle to take in air "Mum- no stop!" She managed to wheeze out, tears returning to her eyes half knowing that she would never see her mother again, half because of the intense pain. Suddenly a flash behind her eyes caused it all to stop. Falling forward with thud, she lay there for a second before opening her eyes. Her vision was more than perfect now as she noticed Ken running toward her before her eyes demanded she zoom the focus on Ken's ghoul eye.

Kaneki reached Touka and kneeled down to shake the dark haired girl before noticing her dark eyes were suddenly a platinum golden color. Tilting his head as her eyes returned to normal and she sat up, he gave Touka the 'what-the-hell-just-happened-to-you' look.

The dark haired girl lifted her head to look at Ken, her eyes contained both annoyance and sadness. "I saw my mum... She decided to pass down the family secret to me." Vision returning to that of a hawk, she looked way beyond the hills until her eyes rested on a figure in the distance. A purple haired girl with a dress- Rize. "I thought if you received a gift from someone, they disappeared." She spoke as she returned her sight to normal.

"Yeah. They do. Rize has been gone for about a year now."

Touka remained quiet and stood next to Ken. "I think it's time we head out."

As Ken stood, he was a little uneasy about Touka's new aura as she seemed to be acting much too closely to how he acted to all this. "See you above." He said relaxing his body to focus on returning to consciousness. He felt Touka's presence vanish and knew she was already up there and it was now his turn.

Touka struggled against the odd table she was pinned down to by an incredibly strong material. She was changed into a black under shirt and tights and wasn't all that comfy. Hissing curses at the doctor who was thoroughly amused, she tried to zoom her focus on the oddly tipped scalpel the man held but failed to do so. As the man approached her slowly, more teasingly than with caution, a loud blast was heard at the door revealing Kaneki with his kagune fully extended. As the whet haired boy moved forward, the doctor withdrew his quinque, a small blue bikaku. "I knew I should've started with you!" The doctor half yelled swinging his weapon aimlessly. Kaneki, on the other hand, caught the quinque with ease and tossed it aside before impaling the man with his crimson tentacles, tearing him apart far beyond possible repair.

Ken turned back to Touka, a key swinging on his finger as he walked toward her. Releasing each of the bonds, the dark haired girl broke free and lunged forward at an oncoming guard with her kagune which was suddenly larger in size and much more vibrant. As needles shot through the area and took out an unexpected second guard as well as the first, she motioned for Kaneki to follow which he obediently did.

Soon enough the two were on the street and running. Doves on their tail at every turn. Soon enough they were in the same alley that they were captured in near the club.

Touka noticed a shadow to her right running parallel to them and spotted the dog she had fed a couple days... Maybe weeks ago. It's strides were long and efficient as it ended up next to the two, his nuzzle pointing toward her every so often. Suddenly, the creature quickened it's strides and took the lead causing Ken and Touka to follow. Within a couple minutes, they were underground in an old weather shelter that wouldn't fit today's requirements. Flipping on a light, Touka was relieved to see it worked but quickly shut it off as it was a dead give away to anyone on the outside. Scanning the room in the darkness, she found a closet that would just have to do for the time of hiding. Taking a couple rushed strides towards the door, she swung it open only to be shoved in to the back by Ken who shut the door as quickly and quietly as humanly possible.

Kaneki's arms trapped the girl, his chest pressed against hers while the door pressed against his back. He felt Touka's warm breath on his neck as he listened to the doves above but was quite destructed by Touka of course. He swore he could feel light lips ghosting over his skin, teasing his already racing heart. He was trying to focus on everything around him that would cause trouble, he really was, but the distraction was needed for the time. Moving his arm so his hand could grasp Touka's chin, he dipped his head to place a firm kiss over her lips. Lowering his head more and tilting his head to deepen the kiss, he took in every moment of the sensation of every soft nerve in his lips being set off.

As Touka was slightly surprised by the sudden force of his kiss, she couldn't help but enjoy it in such a stressful time. She knew right now was anything but a good time to do this but what the hell. Bringing her arms up to wrap around Kaneki's neck, resting her elbows on his shoulders while her hands tangled themselves in his snow white hair.

As Ken received positive signals from the girl, his arms rested around her hip bones as their kiss continued to get deeper and the built up heat of the small closet brought it to be hotter.

Suddenly the door swung open causing Touka to pull away with a little yelp but fell forward as Ken fell on his back. Looking up quick, her face started to burn as five familiar men stood above them. Ken on the other hand just looked up at the ghouls with an annoyed look.

"Where did you guys go?! Get married, went on a honeymoon, had four children and retired?" One of the guys from the seventh ward asked slightly amused.

"A club... Got drugged, killed a dozen or so doves, some new gun with sedative that works on ghouls, getting trapped for a couple days... Or weeks?" Ken began.

"Weeks." Shuu interrupted refusing to look at either of the two.

"Okay, weeks. Broke out, then ended up here after being chased." Kaneki finished tilting his head as he still lay on the ground looking up at the five men even though Touka had stood and remained on each of their blind sides.

"Hmf. Fine. We have a hell of a lot to catch up on now. Talk about one step forward, two steps back." Banjou said weighing his options as the white haired half ghoul got to his feet.

"More like taking five steps back. All wards that we have been through these past weeks have restored a worse tyrant than before. Except one of two of them." Shuu spoke bleakly.

"Fine. Looks like we are getting back to it." Ken finally concluded but turned as Touka's kagune lit up the dark side of the room to reveal a hell of a lot bigger of a location than he throught was possible. As it was littered with support beans put in with no measurements it seemed, a small shadow jumped from a side to another. He felt a hand on his shoulder and noticed it was Banjou with an odd look crossed over his face. "Touka is... Different from before. She has somehow gained RC cells and thus her kagune has mutated a bit. It's much larger than before and not to mention her smaller wing has grown into a long flame that could possibly be used like a bikaku." Ken had tilted his head as he noticed the tail like flame had grown and was in a defensive position. "She has changed." And with that he walked forward to stand by Touka's side and look into the darkness only to see a shadow walk out and the girl instantly lunged forward.

The dark haired ghoul's eyes grew red as she shot out a stream of deadly needles, but the opponent had took cover behind one of the beams. Guess this would be a physical fight more than kagune use. Tracking her opposer to find them running to the other side of the location, she sprinted forward and noticed her speed had increased. Quickly on top of the already fast opponent, the new addition to her kagune swept forward to knock the person off their feet causing them to tumble forward and their blue hood fell to reveal hair the same color as her own. Maybe a little lighter. Giving no mercy to stop, she bladed her kagune and swept it across the boy's back leaving a deep gash and the force of the attack made the ghoul roll over to reveal a familiar face "Ayato...?" Touka trailed confused only to jump back as his claw like blue flames of a kagune revealed it's self.

"Your boyfriend over there didn't break me enough to kill me. You though you beat me half to death?" Ayato spat as Kaneki began forward with his kagune unleashed and ready to tear this kid apart. He didn't take calmly to foes who smart mouthed him.

"No, Ken. This is my fight." Touka growled right before she lunged at her brother, quickly hiding the flaming tail as a sort of backup attack.

"I'll tear that stupid half wing of yours off your back!" Ayato yelled as his claws tore at the large wing that shielded every attack with an ease.

Touka decided against her first thought. Guess her flame was coming out. Bringing out the flame like trail, it swung towards Ayato barely missing his neck as he quickly changed to defense. "What the h-" he began only to be struck in the gut by the mutated kagune. Spitting out blood he glared at Touka who responded with a foul tone. "Mother always liked me better. Remember that." Retrieving her flame from her brother's gut, he coughed again and fell to his knees clutching his stomach. "You've changed... Touka." He managed to say as the girl began to return to the group. "I guess I have, and it looks like your the one who has to deal with it.  
For now at least."

There was a small squeal from the corner of the room as a figure ran forward towards Ayato causing Ken to go defensive to the group and expand his kagune to protect any sort of attack the new opponent was willing to throw. Lowering his kagune, he heard the figure call out. "Onii, why!?"

Touka's eyes widened as she turned back to the figure causing her mutation of a kagune to vanish into thin air. "Hinami?" She managed to whisper as she ran forward to drop next to her. "I'm so... Sorry you had to see that." The ghoul managed to choke out as she now embraced the girl. Pulling her close and stroking her hair as she rested her chin on the younger child's head, she whispered apologies who were blocked out by the girl who was focused on Ayato. Suddenly there was a light hand on her should that caused her to pull away from Hinami and the two, her eyes streaming with warm clear drops of water. "Ken. I screwed up, didn't I?" Touka asked as she got to her feet, legs shaky as she embraced the half ghoul. "The only thing you can do is assume that you didn't." He whispered into her ear causing her to pull back and look at the two younger ghouls. Kaneki had taken Touka's hand and was leading her back to the group who was giving her uncertain looks as they had experienced her pent up power against ghoul few people could take. "He didn't even place a hit on her." She heard one of the guys from the seventh ward speak in awe.

Ken had enough of all this and finally gave orders for the group to leave for the night for a nearby hotel.

While the arrangements were the same as the hotel with the Italian, Ken and Touka curled up on the bed together talking until both of them were feeling the much needed effects of sleep.


End file.
